Ukraine

[moondog-sparky]

As kind of an aside, that's something that has baffled me for at least two decades; not Hawkings prediction, but that something that appears so self evident as that is, that people with enough going on in their brains to want to listen to him would be speechless after hearing the prediction!

makes me think back to Kurt Vonnegut's "Galapagos" novel (one of my all-time fav's!): 'there we go again thinking with our big-brains' (or something along those lines) basically, no matter how smart we think we are, we just f*ck stuff up, continually.

[j44ke]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherno...uctural_design

I think this is false statement, because even if you unplugged it, the site is in no need of being cooled. The solid waste is inside the previous concrete tomb. The new containment site is just to allow the clean-up and dissassembly of the existing structures. There is no need to cool the nuclear waste anymore. I think the primary purpose is to monitor nuclear dust and radiation levels.

Maybe BigBill can chime in if I am wrong on this.

Report has been adjusted. And clarified by the IAEA. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03...-nuclear-plant

When Chernobyl was first seized by the Russians, there was a rumor in Prague that the Russians had wired the whole place with explosives as a sort of giant dirty bomb. But then it was pointed out that the work required to do so would have taken longer than the Russians had been there.

[bigbill]

It'd be ironic if the same Russian Winter that stymied Napoleon and Hitler stymies Putin.

The Ukrainian spring with the melting snows and rising temps will turn anything not paved into a mud bog. I think this shakes Putin more than anything else. The timing of the invasion was during the winter and I doubt he ever thought it would extend to the thaw. Putin either had bad advisors, military leaders covering their collective asses with false readiness reports, or actually believed the rest of the world wouldn't care. Crater the roads and blow up the bridges and the Russian vehicles can be used for target practice.

[thollandpe]

Report has been adjusted. And clarified by the IAEA. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03...-nuclear-plant

Wow, even the adjusted report is mighty disturbing. The IAEA says there’s “need for immediate alarm” about interrupting power at the Chernobyl plant. However…

• There is a cooling water loop, and I’m guessing it’s not just for air conditioning.
• It’s not clear if the backup generators are operating or if they will continue to have fuel.
• The 200 staffers who were there when the Russians invaded are still there, working at gunpoint, and have not been rotated out in weeks. Nobody has been in contact with the staff.
• The IAEA has lost contact with sensors at the plant. No remote monitoring.
• The Russians have 500 troops and 50 pieces of artillery in place to “defend” the site.

What’s the strategy behind seizing this plant and cutting off power and communication?

[vertical_doug]

The Ukrainian spring with the melting snows and rising temps will turn anything not paved into a mud bog. I think this shakes Putin more than anything else. The timing of the invasion was during the winter and I doubt he ever thought it would extend to the thaw. Putin either had bad advisors, military leaders covering their collective asses with false readiness reports, or actually believed the rest of the world wouldn't care. Crater the roads and blow up the bridges and the Russian vehicles can be used for target practice.

Which brings us the most important part of the Nazi Stalingrad Lesson-

When the Sixth Army was being cut-off and surrounded, the German Commander could not retreat since Hitler had already made a speech to the German people about winning the battle of Stalingrad. The false narrative over ruled the reality on the ground. Every inch given up was viewed as a defeat by Hitler. Goring who was trying to regain favor with Hitler, devised a plan to supply the 6th Army from the air with the Luftwaffe which was a complete failure leading to needless loss of planes and pilots.

The underlings of a dictator who rules by terror and fear, rather guess and tell the leader what he wants to hear instead of what he needs to hear.

Hopefully this is the situation in Ukraine for Russia.

I love Bill's bomb the road and bridges then shoot the fish in the barrel. analogy.

[Doug Fattic]

As I have mentioned before, I have a few bicycles in this fight. week I figured out how to get money to a former translator that can distribute this money primarily for gas for those in the Odessa region to go to either Moldova or Poland. And to supplement income for families that are now out of work. It wasn't so simple to do. An agent at Moneygram interrogated me to confirm I had actually met the recepient eye to eye. Lots of questions. If I said the work "contribution" they would not have sent the funds.

The guy in front of me in line at Walmart was also sending money to Ukraine. I had never met him before. He is Ukrainian and had gotten married just 2 months ago. This is the interesting part. I sent his name to my translator in Ukraine and she immediately texted back their wedding picture! It can be a small world sometimes. His wife is fortunate to have gotten to the States just before the invasion.

Today I was continuing to teach a frame painting class. I have a bunch of old Schwinn fillet brazed frames (Super Sports among others) and they are being used as class painting projects. When we are finished I'll be able to donate their entire sale to our Ukraine bicycle project (hopefully at inflated prices).

[bigbill]

I love Bill's bomb the road and bridges then shoot the fish in the barrel. analogy.

I want the Russian crews to abandon the vehicles first. Just wanted to clarify that. Some conscripted teenagers don't need to die, it's not their fault that piss-poor planning and false propaganda stranded them on the side of the road.

[j44ke]

May not be that Stalingrad is the pertinent model. The urban tank battles in Grozny during the 1990's may be better.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/bu...-bottom-107616

[BBB]

We're doing it. Species extinction, unsustainable population growth, boundless resource consumption & environmental destruction and nuclear saber rattling which sooner or later will not end well be it via evil, miscalculation or fuckup. Hell, the cold temp reservoirs necessary to the operation of the heat engine we live on are warming and melting, and we keep buying larger vehicles, building larger houses, etc. It's not that we'll eventually destroy ourselves (and most higher order life), we're still at the party as the Titanic roars into the ice field.

Indeed. Part of the response to some of these things was Covid. It has killed millions. Had it been more infectious and deadly that sum could have been in the billions. Obviously Covid is not related to the Ukraine, but sometimes for the reasons you outline, us humans aren't so bright.

[jdanke]

We've been living in Gibson's 2014 book The Peripheral for years, now. Welcome to The Jackpot.

Spoiler Alert
https://www.newstatesman.com/uncateg...east-100-years

I loaned it to a neighbor in mid-2020 and he returned it unfinished. Too scary.

[72gmc]

The Peripheral is the best book I read in my recent Gibson binge.

[alexstar]

We've been living in Gibson's 2014 book The Peripheral for years, now. Welcome to The Jackpot.

Spoiler Alert
https://www.newstatesman.com/uncateg...east-100-years

I loaned it to a neighbor in mid-2020 and he returned it unfinished. Too scary.

One of the last events I went to in 2019 was a William Gibson book event here in San Francisco. During the Q&A, every third question was "Are we in the jackpot?". Since then, I think we've been able to determine the answer for ourselves...

[Doug Fattic]

I've had no time to ponder how the past should have been different that could have changed the present situation in Ukraine. I know right now there is a small window of time to get people out of the Odessa area (as one example) to countries west. You know the Russians want that southern port city (3rd largest in Ukraine). Most likely they will close off any escape routes fairly soon. I've taken some of the money that has already been raised for bicycles and broadened the term so now "bicycles" also means "humanitarian aid". I've been able to send a decent amount of money from our Ukraine Bicycle account to a former translator's bank card so she can redistribute those funds 2 ways. The 1st is to buy petrol (gas or diesel) fuel and food for the trip west. It takes a lot longer now because of heavy traffic and the lines at the border are insanely long so more fuel is needed. One round trip to Moldova is the equivalent of a teacher's monthly salary. A trip to Poland (a much richer country than Moldova) takes the equivalent of 2 month's salary ($400). The 2nd is that people are running out of money because they haven't been paid because businesses haven't been earning money and stores are running out of food. Everyone is very worried.

My morning consists of teaching a frame painting class (painting old fillet brazed Schwinns that can be turned into Ukraine project money) and the afternoon doing what is necessary to send money as well as all the communication required for that process to be successful. Get busy guys. Do something. I have an advantage because I've been going to Ukraine for years to make and deliver bicycles but I'm sure if you work at it, you can do something to help too. I'm also more motivated because I see the destruction in the city where our little frame/bike assembly shop is located. The Russians are jammed up creating local havoc while stalled in their effort to get to Kyiv. In my imagination people can become motivated to do what they can too when they realize the destruction and not remain passive because it isn't happening to them.

[bcm119]

Indeed. Part of the response to some of these things was Covid. It has killed millions. Had it been more infectious and deadly that sum could have been in the billions. Obviously Covid is not related to the Ukraine, but sometimes for the reasons you outline, us humans aren't so bright.

Yeah, I think new infectious diseases are a symptom (no pun intended) of ecological degradation. Look at Lyme disease - it has exploded in the most disturbed environments of the northeast US, particularly the residential/farm/wooded patchwork landscapes of the NY/New England suburbs. These are the environments where certain rodents that carry the disease have thrived in the absence of larger predators. The disease is far less prevalent in undisturbed, intact ecosystems. Another example of the indirect consequences of messing with the balance of ecology. Covid and Lyme could be the tip of the iceberg if we continue on the same path.

[jimcav]

I've had no time to ponder how the past should have been different that could have changed the present situation in Ukraine. I know right now there is a small window of time to get people out of the Odessa area (as one example) to countries west. You know the Russians want that southern port city (3rd largest in Ukraine). Most likely they will close off any escape routes fairly soon. I've taken some of the money that has already been raised for bicycles and broadened the term so now "bicycles" also means "humanitarian aid". I've been able to send a decent amount of money from our Ukraine Bicycle account to a former translator's bank card so she can redistribute those funds 2 ways. The 1st is to buy petrol (gas or diesel) fuel and food for the trip west. It takes a lot longer now because of heavy traffic and the lines at the border are insanely long so more fuel is needed. One round trip to Moldova is the equivalent of a teacher's monthly salary. A trip to Poland (a much richer country than Moldova) takes the equivalent of 2 month's salary ($400). The 2nd is that people are running out of money because they haven't been paid because businesses haven't been earning money and stores are running out of food. Everyone is very worried.

My morning consists of teaching a frame painting class (painting old fillet brazed Schwinns that can be turned into Ukraine project money) and the afternoon doing what is necessary to send money as well as all the communication required for that process to be successful. Get busy guys. Do something. I have an advantage because I've been going to Ukraine for years to make and deliver bicycles but I'm sure if you work at it, you can do something to help too. I'm also more motivated because I see the destruction in the city where our little frame/bike assembly shop is located. The Russians are jammed up creating local havoc while stalled in their effort to get to Kyiv. In my imagination people can become motivated to do what they can too when they realize the destruction and not remain passive because it isn't happening to them.

thanks Doug. I've donated to World Central Kitchen, UNICEF, and Sunflower of Peace. I will soon place some items for sale, probably across the hall to raise more. I hope everyone does what they can.

[Doug Fattic]

thanks Doug. I've donated to World Central Kitchen, UNICEF, and Sunflower of Peace. I will soon place some items for sale, probably across the hall to raise more. I hope everyone does what they can.

Wonderful! I've gotten videos of thanks. They aren't necessary but always nice to get.

[vertical_doug]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tan-worse.html

Be nice if this is beginning to happen.

[j44ke]

Medecins Sans Frontieres is active in Ukraine, providing medical care in some of the worst areas, like Mariupol.

[thollandpe]

This guy from Michigan is selling merch to benefit Ukraine.

He’s has one take on the classic WW2 propaganda poster that promoted carpooling, "When you ride alone you ride with Hitler."

Only it’s that sawed-off former KGB guy in the passenger seat, and it extols you to ride your bike.

When you drive a car, you drive with Putin
by no-faceposters
Redbubble

https://www.treehugger.com/vintage-p...action-5220945

[ColonelJLloyd]

From today.....start at 47:00



Apparently these labs are run by the DOD. These are from a Bulgarian reporter.

https://armswatch.com/category/weapo...gical-weapons/

https://armswatch.com/the-pentagon-bio-weapons/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/u...formation.html